I research, write about innovation, privacy and reputation via my books and articles, and work on it with clients as president of Arcadia, a communications research, design & delivery lab focused on today's most important, cutting-edge issues. I have 30+ years of professional experience working at big ad/PR agencies and at major brands, and I'm a Senior Fellow Emeritus at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

Unavoidable Branding

Some brands are required by law to add a list of warnings and other information at the end of their ads or product labels. Contest terms and conditions. Drug side-effects. Directions to avoid misuse. They’re called mouseprint when they’re in text ads, and they’re read out loud really fast on radio spots. On packs of cigarettes they’re unqualified dares. On consumer products they’re hopefully ignored.

I wonder why most marketers haven’t figured out better ways to integrate such content.

After all, since the information has been deemed so important that it’s required, doesn’t it render the presumed “meat” of the ad content optional, by default? Yet ads treat the former like it has been surreptitiously attached or, in the case of TV commercials, use the latter’s imagery and soothing music to presumably cover it up (just think of those drug company spots that slip in warnings about “erections lasting more than 4 hours” or “split personalities and out-of-body experiences” while on-screen characters hold hands or sleep peacefully).

I bet consumers recognize, perhaps implicitly, that these warnings are there for a reason. Contests are hard to win. Drugs are serious, well, drugs. Nobody should buy a mutual fund without reading a prospectus (which are full-on mouseprint, funny enough). Smoking is only for the brave and reckless.

These warnings are unavoidable branding.

You’d think brands would want their consumers to know these things, since the marketing game is all about managing expectations. Doing so is the only path to maintaining loyal repeat customers. Better informed consumers are less likely to be disappointed, and more forgiving if they are. Plus, this branding content is unavoidable because it’s what ends up getting shared via social media anyway; if somebody is unhappy because they chose to gargle with your dishwashing liquid, it’s still your fault, not theirs. So why not preempt misuse and potential dissatisfaction with more thoughtful and apparent attention to informing them in the first place? Further, it’s easy to promise a first-place contest win or miracle drug cure, but that litany of warnings encourages most consumers to discount (or at least question) those promises. Clearer promises make for better ones. Experience marketing starts with the experience of marketing.

Maybe the real communications challenge is to figure out how to find ways to integrate the caveats and warnings into the context of the branding overall, instead of treating the required language like it doesn’t matter. Conversely, if you’re not required by law to tell your customers something you know is vitally important, or just plain hard to explain happily (or with a straight face), maybe you should figure out how to include it anyway.

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Energy drinks have been in the news lately for supposedly killing people with caffeine, and I think they are an interesting case of branding and health hazards. The branding of the drinks already IS “crazy, high amounts of caffeine.” How do you pair that with a warning label about death? How do you get people to swallow that godawful elixir without some religious thrilling sense of danger?

Marketers need to do a better job of integrated branding that is necessary, but not exactly flashy. Marketing companies do have an obligation to their brand and their company to provide vital information. www.addisonwhitney.com